FINAL

This is the final post.

It has been a great journey learning all of this stuff about migration.  I really learnt a lot from this course that I don't think I ever knew.  I have learned all of the hardships that people face when they do cross a boarder, and the reasons why they leave, and what happens when they get there, and so much more.  It has been a great class and I loved all of the things that we did with it, such as the discussions and the blog posts, the migrant interview and the blog posts, all of this stuff has been fun.

I cant wait to continue the posts and keep going with this as it has been fun and I actually enjoy posting how I am feeling.

Best of Luck everyone.

Travis

Photo-Documentary

For the course we had to create a photo-documentary about migration that is happening within the GTA.  My topic that I decided to chose was migration of sports and recreation within the city of Brampton.

It was actually amazing to see how far Brampton has come in the past 10 years when it comes to sports in Brampton.  10 years ago, you would rarely see an immigrant learning to skate or swim, however now that we have come to this time period where immigrants are beginning to settle in Brampton, we are seeing more and more immigrants allowing or pushing their kids into learning how to swim and skate.  This has resulted in an increase in revenue for the recreation centers and the city because now more people are wanting to learn and put money into the city, and are also spending money to come to free swim and skates.

Not only does that have an impact on the city but the organizations within the city like the BYHA (Brampton Youth Hockey Association).  The increase in immigrants learning to skate has also sparked an interest in people wanting to learn to play hockey.  There have been more kids of immigrant families playing in the league now, then there were 10 - 15 years ago.

All this is showing is that there has been a huge shift in cultural sports and that more immigrants are wanting to become "Canadian" by learning to skate and swim so that they may be able to fit in.  However, in Brampton they have also created a new centre for immigrants to play their favourite sports such as cricket and soccer.  This is a new centre and has gotten a great reception from the residents and is constantly being used.

This was a great experience, however it could be a little odd as I had to secretly take pictures of people playing soccer and skating.  I did ask for permission to take pictures but since there were so many people it would have been hard to get permission from everyone.  Other than that it was a great experience and I really loved doing it.

"Arrested Movement"

When we here about Guantanamo Bay, what do people think of?  A prison, a military base, or in some cases people begin to think of the movie Harold and Kumar.  No matter what you think, this place has had its stories told by people who have only heard of this place and not actually been there.  The book Poems from Guantanamo is a bunch of poems that have been written and taken from the prisoners within the walls that is Guantanamo Bay.

One of the poems that I read was Death Poem.  It was a very touching poem as it made me think are all the people who are in Guantanamo really their because of something that they have done? Or are they only there because what people fear they will do?  Is it a fair judgement to say to someone that even though you have done no wrong that you will be detained because we "believe" you are going to do something wrong? 

One of the lines from the poem is "let them bear the guilty burden before the world".  This quote stuck out to me in particular because, it seems to me that the people within Guantanamo believe that this is the worlds fault... and they in-fact would be right.  Most people watch as these people are tortured and suffer like none of us have ever before, and even though there are still people who do everything they can to stop this from happening, it is inevitable.  The world will not listen to the regular people who feel the pain that these people go through.  The USA feel that they can continue to execute these actions, because they have every right to.  They are the world in their eyes, and feel that they have the power as long as they own the land to do what they feel like.  This quote was a wake up call to the world that this is wrong, but I also feel that this is a promise to the USA who own Guantanamo Bay, that no matter what happens now, they will always carry the guilty burden that they have tortured and killed many innocent people only because they suspect them to be doing wrong.

It continues to say "this soul which has suffered at the hands of the "protectors of peace." This quote also struck me as being a quote in which it could have many meanings.  Who are the "protectors of peace"?  In this man's opinion it is surely not the USA, as they have detained thousands of innocent people who mean no harm to the USA let alone any one they live with, yet they are still detained.  What are they trying to protect? Are they trying to make it seem like they are protecting their country by pinning innocent people with the blame?  I feel that the US aren't really "protectors of peace" because if they felt in peace keeping they would give the innocent people that they have taken from their homes the chance to go and live again and be with their families.

There is a lot to talk about on this subject because it is such a debatable subject, but no matter how you look at it, no one can ever say that every person in Guantanamo is there because they have done wrong.  That is something that this book has done, which is given a voice to those people who no longer are able to speak to their families, the world or even themselves.

"Arrival"

What does arriving mean? Arriving means "reaching a place at the end of a journey or a stage in a journey".  However, how do you know when you arrive? Is it when you take a rest? Is it when you end your day? For some people arriving is only something that happens when you reach a place where you are truly safe.  Many people travel on journeys to find that place of safety for them but how many of them really find that place of safety?

As I referred to in my post on Leaving Amanda Knox's story is a story where she finds that place of safety and arrives.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/amanda-knox-overwhelmed-returns-home-seattle/story?id=14668423

In this article it is all about Amanda returning home to safety.  She had been through a lot with all of the murder trials and being held there because of this, so when she was finally able to arrive back in the USA she had finished her horrible journey and returned to her place of safety.

Not only is arriving about finding a place of safety but also a home.

Home:

a. An environment offering security and happiness.

b. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.

As you can see a home is a place where you can truly feel like your are accepted and feel like your are safe.  For a lot of migrants the country that they arrive in is not their home, it is only a place of freedom or a place of residence.  When I did my interview with the migrant I asked him when he truly felt like this was his home, and he told me that "It wasn't until I started a family".  He felt like this was his home because he now felt like he had something here to care for, to protect.  

So when is it that migrants truly arrive at their destination? Is it when they reach a place of safety? Or is it when they finally find a home? This is an interesting question as many people have different ideas of when it is that they finally arrive.

Interview with A Migrant

Interviewing a migrant was an amazing experience for myself.  I interviewed a man named David who was originally from Trinidad, who moved here when he was only the age of 9.  He wasn't very talkative to me, however once he was able to get comfortable to me he became a little more open.  I have known him for about 6 years, but just by talking to him I learned a lot more about from him in this interview then I have in the 6 years that I have known him.  There were a lot of interesting information that I learned from him such as how he used to have family there, but doesn't anymore. Also I learned how he had moved from Trinidad to Jamaica to the United States then finally to Canada and how he was one of the only coloured people in his area at the time.  There was a lot of things that I learned from this interview, and I feel that I understand him a lot better now that I have been able to see his journey and some of the things that he has gone through.

There were a couple problems that arose in getting and creating this interview with him.  He works a lot with World Vision, so he was a little busy, but he was very interested in doing the interview and was able to give me a couple minutes of his time.  When doing the interview there were a couple problems that did arise, one problem was getting him to talk about his past.  Many people don't want to talk about their past especially if something has happened to them, but in this case he explained that there was not a lot for him to talk about, but what he did end up talking about was very good and rich information that intrigued me and gave me a lot of knowledge.  I really enjoyed doing this interview with him because I was able to incorporate my own program into this course by video taping the interview.  He was shy to the camera at first but once we began to talk he started to warm up to the idea of being on camera and really got into the mood of the interview.

Not only is it myself that learned a lot from doing this interview, but I am sure that everyone in my class has learned a lot about the people that they interviewed, whither it was their mother, father, neighbour, or even a friend; by sitting down and talking to them about their past and their journeys to Canada we are able to understand some of the hardships and struggles that people do face to come to this country.  Not only do we realize how some people faced hardships to get to Canada, but I have also realized how blessed and grateful I am to be born here so that I didn't have to go through some of the hardships that people have had to face.  Therefore, this interview not only was a good thing for the person that did the interview, but also by sharing the interviews with our classmates it has helped all of us to gain valuable knowledge for this course and our lives.

Boarders

There are many problems with boarders and people moving from place to place.  Many people feel that there are so many problems when it comes to leaving but most of the problems really start when you begin to cross a boarder.  There are many different types of boarders, there are personal boarders, city boarders and country boarders.  Each one of these boarders have problems, but also come with rewards.  Many times people cross boarders because they need to get away from problems within there own country, however once they reach the boarder they find just as many problems.  Now a days you need proper paper work in order to cross boarders, and when you don't have the proper paper work you are turned away, which causes more people to find an alternative way into the countries.  The boarder between Mexico and the USA is known for immigrants crossing boarders illegally because of all the strict regulations and laws.  Just like the story we read last week about the man choosing to stand between the boarders of the two countries, some people get stuck between boarders because they are not allowed in one country and not allowed in another.  There are many problems that happen at boarders, but there are reasons why there are boarders because of safety issues and laws.  The boarders are they to protect the people within them and to also protect people outside of them.  There are good things that come from boarders such as being able to come into the country, but more often then not we see more problems when it comes to people having to cross boarders; whither its personal boarders, city boarders and even countries, however there are always reasons for why things happen.  Eventually in the future who know what other problems well will come across with boarders and people trying to cross them.

"Leaving"

In the past many people have had to leave from place to place, but do people ever really understand why they leave or what they are leaving for.  I have never had the experience that some people have had of moving from country to country but I have had the experience of moving houses.  When I was younger my family moved from my old house that I grew up in for 10 years to a new house and new area for me.  When I was younger I didn't understand why we had to leave, I was only concerned with leaving my friends.  Once I got older I began to understand why we had to move.  Looking back I realize that my old house was to small to raise two kids and wouldn't have been able to hold all of us.  I also realized that no matter where I went I was going to meet new people and make new friends.  Some of the people that leave because of war, politics, health and other things, I will never be able to feel how they feel.  Many of them have had to leave behind family, their homes, their friends, their lifestyle and a part of themselves.  No one can really understand what it is like to move from place to place with out getting a choice, but in order to feel what some of those people feel when moving you have to have moved at least once in your life time.  Now looking back I am able to see that I didn't have it so bad moving to a new house, and that I am grateful that I didn't have to move to a new country.


Leaving has bad and good results, but most of the time we here about people escaping their home countries for a better life, but sometimes there are stories of people leaving their home country only to have to return home to be safe.  Some people may not agree, but for Amanda Knox leaving home had its prices; as once she moved from home she became involved in a murder case in Italy.  This was huge for Amanda as she chose to leave her home and school to so study over in Italy and it wasn't even a year before these troubles all began to happen.  However, after years of being in Italy dealing with this murder case, she was finally able to feel the happiness and relief of being able to leave a country where she was held almost like a hostage because of an ongoing trial.  She may not have had to leave as bad as some people in other countries, but for her to be able to leave is something that she will always cherish.  This unit was about leaving and the reasons why and how it affects the people.  In this case she left her home country to go to another country only to NEED to return home to feel safe and secure.